CEDAR CREST, N.M. — New Mexico’s attorney general sued the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday, accusing it of blocking the state from investigating sex crimes at Jeffrey Epstein’ssprawling ranch near Santa Fe.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the department and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stonewalled New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s criminal investigation into Epstein and others, taking steps that “actively harms victims and undermines the public interest.”
The lawsuit seeking judicial intervention to force the federal government to turn over materials to New Mexico’s investigators was filed the same day that the state released a report saying “those directly responsible for protecting New Mexicans relied on others to do their job,” including federal prosecutors in New York.
“The federal prosecutors, though, never prioritized New Mexicans, focusing instead on Epstein’s misdeeds in New York, Palm Beach, Florida, and the Virgin Islands, while leaving Epstein’s offenses in New Mexico unexamined,” the report said.
Meanwhile, according to the Washington lawsuit, Torrez and his senior prosecutors “have faced sustained resistance” to the kind of information-sharing that had occurred in the past between state and federal investigators.
In a statement, the Justice Department said it was not releasing some information the state requested because federal court orders ban disclosing “victim-identifying information carte blanche, and New Mexico has provided no lawful basis to justify such sweeping disclosures.”
It said protecting victim privacy remains a top priority, though the Justice Department “remains available to assist New Mexico’s investigation consistent with the law and binding court orders.”
Torrez, in an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson, accused the Justice Department of hiding “behind the Epstein survivors.”
“We have provided them with ample legal justifications” for releasing the files, Torrez said.
The lawsuit said the Justice Department and Blanche were hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators whenNew Mexicois one of the few jurisdictions that may still be able to hold Epstein’s associates accountable or “provide some sense of justice to survivors.”
In a videoconference call with reporters, Torrez said his office has made 10 separate requests for key information and has been ignored or denied.
“We have heard repeatedly they will cooperate and what our team has experienced is anything but cooperation,” Torrez said.
“Todd Blanche today with a stroke of a pen could grant us the access that he claimed,” Torrez said. “Instead they have decided to stonewall, to obstruct and to frankly conceal for whatever reason.”
The lawsuit references a Justice Department prosecution memo that describes a sexual assault at Zorro Ranch by a woman who was not Epstein’s former girlfriend and close associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Asked on “Hallie Jackson Now” whether Torrez believes there is another woman who facilitated assaults in a similar way to Maxwell, he said, “The truth is we don’t know at this point.”
